I Can Tell You—I’m Venezuelan.

A must read from Townhall.

The closer we get to the 2020 election, Democratic presidential candidates support more socialist proposals, and the more that we Venezuelan immigrants experience déjà vu.

We’re all-too-familiar with the rhetoric Democrats have delivered over the course of their campaigns. All candidates endorse a transition to Medicare-for-All in one form or another, higher taxes on Americans, and a fresh wave of regulations and government-guaranteed “rights.” And just recently, Elizabeth Warren seemed to endorse government-provided housing. These are the kinds of measures they hope will bring about a paradise similar to the Left’s beloved Nordic countries. Even so, for Americans used to a liberal government, it can be hard to envision what a democratic-socialist America would really look like.

But I can. I’ve lived it.

I saw my home country go from prosperity to starvation in less than two decades. All because the people were tricked into voting for a candidate who sought to punish the rich and give everything away for free. Sound familiar?

If America buys into the ideas of the Sanders and Warrens of the world, things will go downhill just as quickly.

…

Given full power, Democratic-Socialists would thrust America into an economic nightmare from which it might never escape — not into some Nordic paradise. Venezuelans learned this the hard way. In 2020, Americans can avoid our fate by remembering that free markets, not socialism, lead to prosperity.

From 2o16. Things haven’t improved.